Flirtatiously Advantageous
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: Oneshot. Teddy & Lorcan strike a deal...much to Dominique & Roxanne's amusement. *2011 Xmas pressie for Mango* K for 1 instance of inappropriateness XD


**Flirtatiously Advantageous**

A HariPo oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _Harry Potter_ characters belong to J. K. Rowling, not me. This fic is a Christmas present for my best friend, **BlueMango**. Why must you make me keep shipping Teddique? XD For everyone else: read, review, and enjoy! *Note: The prompt of _**wink**_ came from **xXKissingSinXx**'s "100 Prompts" challenge in the HPFC; it's one of my fav chals since it's so helpful! :]

**hoHOhoHOho**

Lorcan's right eye twitched, but he didn't blink. "Well, Lupin? Had enough yet?"

Teddy didn't blink either. "You wish, Scamander. I'm the older one here, and I always win. Always."

"It's nothing much if you lose. You won't look any less manly for it…"

"Bite your tongue!" Teddy growled, his cheeks flushed. I can't lose to—to—"

"To a snarky little Ravenclaw who is undoubtedly your superior?"

"ARGH!" Teddy, in glaring at Lorcan, had finally blinked. Lorcan laughed his head off as Teddy begrudgingly placed a Knut on the table.

Lorcan grinned, his cerulean eyes glinting. "Pleasure doing business with you, Lupin."

Teddy pulled a face. "You know, I remember when we were younger, you weren't as much of a troublemaker. You were more like your mother, who's _kind_."

"You can blame my influence," Roxanne said as she and her cousin, Dominique, walked into the room. "Why are you two betting on the dumbest of things anyways?"

Teddy shrugged. "It's something to do, y'know. How was I supposed to know that my god family wanted to do something on the Christmas break _without_ me?" He sighed and cupped his cheek in his palm, almost daring any of them to remind him that he technically was not a part of their family, in the blood sense. Well…it was okay. Teddy could understand it, a bit. He was in his mid-twenties; he'd had plenty of time to understand it all.

Roxanne nodded. "Same here, in a way. How was I supposed to know that Dad would have some kind of explosion at the shop? Minor, of course, but Freddie was the first to offer Dad and Mum help to clean up, so I'm here at home."

"Meaning I just _had_ to come visit," Lorcan said, tugging on his girlfriend's caramel-colored hand and sitting her on his leg, one hand wrapped around her waist.

"You're making us single people gag," Dominique teased. She sat beside Teddy, and the two of them made faces at the couple.

"Hey, be nice to me for letting you stay over," Roxanne retorted.

"You're staying here tonight?" Teddy asked with some interest. He'd gotten used to seeing more of Roxanne since he and Lorcan had somehow struck up a friendship. Lorcan blamed it on Lysander spending more time with Lily Luna, but Teddy thought it was nice to have a mate his own age again. Er, in some capacity. Lorcan, Lysander, and Dominique were several years younger than Teddy, but Lorcan's mind was sharp—sharper than any Teddy had seen before. And it was nice to have someone keep him on his toes…someone to whom he was _not_ attracted.

At that thought, Teddy looked at Dominique, who was answering him. "…Roxie said I could stay. Go figure, with Louis hanging out with Hugo and Vic off with Neville somewhere—oh, well. The four of us should do something, don't you think?"

Teddy blinked, trying to form words. It was hard to do such a thing when Dominique was looking at him. Did she know how big and doe-like her hazel eyes were? "I—uh, uh…"

"What my friend here is trying to so eloquently say," Lorcan stepped in, his eyes telling Teddy that he hadn't missed a thing that had just happened in that split-second, "is that maybe we should stay in, just hang out… Everyone else is going to be out and on the streets anyway. It'll be crowded."

Dominique nodded. "Good point." She looked to Roxanne. "But we should make it feel more like Christmas around here. What do you say to baking some cookies?" She looked at the wizards. "Well, boys? Decorate the place, will you?"

Lorcan smirked knowingly at Teddy. "Oh, I think I can decorate this place not only faster but _better_ than you can."

Teddy's eye twitched. "You're on!"

"Boys," Dominique said to Roxie with a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes.

It was actually good for Teddy that Dominique disappeared into the kitchen with Roxanne. Once the girls were out of earshot, Teddy inhaled deeply. "Oh, Merlin, I can finally breathe again."

"Mmm-hmm," Lorcan said, hauling Teddy out of his chair and leading him into the living room, away from the dining table. "And why couldn't you breathe in the first place?"

Teddy squirmed as Lorcan zapped up some tinsel and garlands. The way Lorcan was asking, Teddy felt like a little kid. "Ahem, no—no reason, of course…"

"It's Dom, isn't it?"

Teddy glared at him. "I said, it's nothing."

Lorcan raised an eyebrow. "Teddy Remus Lupin, you should know that as a Ravenclaw—and the better half of Roxanne Weasley—little goes by me unnoticed." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "How long?"

"What do you mean, how long?"

"How long have you fancied Dominique?"

Teddy felt like a Weasley, his blush rising from his neck to his ears. "Lorcan! Shut up! What if they hear you?"

Lorcan stared at him. "I'm not letting you decorate anything until you tell me how long."

"Agh…I dunno… I haven't given it much thought, to be exact." The Lupin son scratched his head and looked at the floor. "I never really considered Dom in such a way… I just—" He sighed. "I've been noticing more and more since your graduation that Dom…is really pretty. _Really_, really pretty."

"And what, that's where the train stops?" Lorcan scoffed. "Good Merlin, man, you've gotten by _how_ many years with that simple a mind?"

"Lorcan…"

"All right, all right, no need to growl at me… Tell you what—five _Galleons_ that you snog Dominique before the night's over."

Teddy gaped at him. "What? Why? No! Of course not! You don't bet on something like that!"

"Five Galleons, mate."

"Aw, Knuts…"

Lorcan chuckled. "Nice pun. But I can't be distracted. Five Galleons or I walk in and tell the girls right _now_ what's been running through that turquoise head of yours—"

"Deal!" the Metamorphmagus interrupted. They shook on it and then got to work on decorating Roxanne's family's house.

Teddy was actually a tad surprised that Angelina and George hadn't taken the time to decorate their home, though George had been at the shop more and more recently, with the holiday rush besieging them. Roxanne seemed okay with the idea of celebrating the Christmas spirit, too, so it was not as though George and Angelina were using the excuse of his twin's death anymore.

Teddy shook his head at that. He had to wonder what George had felt, losing not only a sibling but his twin. If Lorcan or Roxanne ever lost their twin… Teddy shook his head, not wanting to think of such a scenario.

Speaking of twins… He looked at what Lorcan was doing. Lorcan had passed the tinsel to Teddy, and Teddy saw that Lorcan had been hanging garlands. "What?" Lorcan asked, hiding something behind his back.

"Why are you acting so suspicious?"

"I'm not…I'm…hanging mini wreaths, yessir, I am." Lorcan hanged one for good measure.

Teddy narrowed his eyes. "You do recall that if we ever make a bet and there's any cheating, the money automatically goes to the other bloke."

"Of _course_, Teddy…," Lorcan assured him, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. "Sheesh, you don't have to sound so melodramatic."

Teddy let the subject drop, though he did keep an eye on Lorcan as they finished with the living room, dining room, and staircase. They finished in good time, too, as the smells of freshly-baked gingerbread cookies and pumpkin bread wafted out of the kitchen. Both wizards' stomachs growled in response.

"Dinner is _served_," Roxanne jokingly proclaimed as she and Dominique brought out the baked goods.

"We can't have sweets for dinner," Teddy teased them.

"Then don't have any," Lorcan provoked.

When Teddy shot him a look, Dominique laughed and pushed Teddy back into his chair at the dining table. "Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure Aunt Ange will feed us when the three of them return…" Her words trailed off as her eyes drifted up past Teddy's face.

"What, do I have something in my hair?" He patted his tresses for good measure.

"Ah—no, no, you don't, it's fine!" Dominique replied, her cheeks pink. She waved her hands. "Don't worry about it. Let's have some bread, shall we?"

But that wasn't the only time Dominique had given him a strange look. After the quad had stuffed themselves, Lorcan and Roxanne disappeared into the kitchen and Dominique and Teddy moved out to the living room—where Dominique repeated the same action twice, with little variation. By the fourth time, Teddy didn't believe her anymore. "_Dom_, what is up with you?"

"I—er—"

Then Lorcan and Roxanne came out of the kitchen and Roxanne squealed. "Ooh, mistletoe!"

Teddy's eyes widened and Dom smacked her forehead in frustration. "Well, Happy Christmas, Teddy," the blonde said before yanking on his loose tie and snogging the living daylights out of him.

"What was _that_ for?" Teddy gasped.

"The mistletoe," Dominique replied. "Rox said I'd have to pay her five Galleons if she saw us beneath the mistletoe and we didn't kiss. Go figure she finally saw the mistletoe above your head."

He looked up and saw there was a wreath dangling above him, mistletoe sprouting from it like…well, like a mistletoe penis. Cheeks crimson, he shot Lorcan a look. "_Scamander_!"

Lorcan was howling with laughter. "You get to pay up, too, mate!"

But that wasn't too bad, considering the way Dominique was looking at Teddy…they probably wouldn't have needed the mistletoe much longer.

Just then, the front door swung open, and Freddie stood there with some shopping bags and Lucy, yet another Weasley. "Oi, you lot, ready for Christmas yet?"

Lorcan snickered. "No, but apparently you two are…" He pointed upward, where Freddie and Lucy saw the mistletoe and turned holly red, whilst the others laughed…reveling in the "merriment."

**hoHOhoHOho**

**B] Nice. I even **_**hinted**_** at an M&MWP, Freddie/Lucy… B))) This was just too funny and fun to write… Merlin. Poor Teddy! He must be so confused! XDDD But thank Merlin for Lorcan being such a handsome scoundrel! ;]**

**Merry Christmas, Mango! I can't wait to give you the rest of your Xmas gifts! XD**

**As for the rest of you—please review!**

**-mew-tsubaki ;3**


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